Re-evaluating the Star of Bethlehem, Part 4: "The Sceptre shall not depart ... from between his feet, until Shiloh comes" (featuring @vuyusile as author)

In Part 3 we saw how the conjunction of 12 August 3BCE fulfils the condition of a star arising out of Jacob (Leo).

However, it is easy for us, looking backward, to find the key events, with an idea of what to look for. It would have been much harder for a person looking on expectantly to have known which Jupiter/Venus conjunction would be relevant. It would be like looking for the veritable needle in the haystack.

Unless …

Recall that in the prophecy in Numbers 24: 17 it was stated that “there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel”; and in Genesis 49: 12 it was stated “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.” Reading these prophecies together literally suggests that a sceptre would arise, or become manifest, and not depart, before the Messiah had come.

We found both Jacob and the Virgin represented by constellations in the night sky. Is there a representation of a sceptre in the constellations or planetary interactions in the heavens that might speak to this prophecy?

A sceptre is traditionally regarded as a staff signifying authority. In the powerful empires whose traditions dominated life during the time we are investigating, the sceptre was a straight staff often depicted with a ball on its head (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sceptre ).

This image is easily suggested by a full moon, with aligned planets along the ecliptic plain: the full moon is the ball, the staff joining the planetary dots. The full moon engulfs the light of the night stars, accentuating the visibility of the "sceptre" above most other stars in the sky.

In the first Part of this series I pointed out how infrequent an occurrence it is to have all five planets visible in the night sky at the same time. Let’s look at that screen shot for 27 August 2016 again.

Although all five planets are present in the sky, there is no full moon. But it had already joined in the fun on 17 August 2016. However, as can be seen from this image, the planets are badly out of alignment and the staff is as crooked as a lie.

Thus an occurrence of planetary alignment with all five planets in a relatively straight line at the same time is difficult to find.

Even harder to find is a sceptre where all the planets are aligned with the moon, AND the traversing superior planets (i.e. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) are located within a single constellation, that is to say within the 30 degree arc of the night sky, so that the sceptre can be said to be identified with that constellation.

To Illustrate: in the 200 years before the Common Era all five planets have been visible with a full moon on only five occasions.

• On 10 July 167BCE a sceptre was visible as follows: a full moon in
  Capricorn; Saturn in Libra, Jupiter and Mars, in Virgo, Venus and
  Mercury in Leo. However, this presentation does not have the superior planets in a single constellation.

• On 10 June 167BCE a sceptre was visible as follows: a full moon in
  Sagittarius; Saturn in Libra, Jupiter and Mars in Virgo with Venus
  and Mercury in Cancer. Again, this presentation does not have the superior planets in a single constellation.

• On 29 November 47 BCE, the full moon was setting in Gemini, while
  Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Saturn and Mercury were rising in Scorpio.
  However, as with our recent presentation, the arrangement of the
  planets is badly out of alignment. This instance accordingly also does
  not qualify.

• On 3 February 44 BCE, the full moon was setting in Leo; Saturn was in
  Sagittarius while Venus, Mercury Jupiter and Mars were in Capricorn.
  The traversing planets were not in a single constellation, and this
  instance also does not qualify.

But on 13 May 26 BCE, and of absolute significance for this study, the full moon rose in the east, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were situated in Leo (with Regulus in line) near the zenith in the night sky, Venus was in Cancer and Mercury in Gemini shortly after the setting of the sun. This literally presented the sceptre in the sky, at the feet of the Lion.

The presentation of this sceptre is impressive in and of itself. But in the context of the scriptural references referred to above it presents as a literal fulfilment of the prophecy. This is because the sceptre lies literally at the feet of Leo. A sceptre is not naturally associated with a member of the animal kingdom, even if it is the regal lion. Nor is it immediately apparent why it should be left lying at the lion’s feet. This renders the observation of the sceptre all the more remarkable in the context of the scriptural prophecy: could Jacob have been providing a future nightspot of a strikingly literal astronomical event?!

Testing to see if a sceptre such as the one on 13 May 26 BCE had presented in Leo before this time requires complicated maths, beyond my expertise. Simply by conducting the observations, however, a tedious process as one can imagine, I have not found the Leo sceptre replicated in the 600 years prior to the birth of Christ, but given the tediousness of the exercise I am open to the possibility that I may have missed it. Even if it had preceded the presentation in 26 BCE, it would have had to produce the same set of other coincidences that are present in the sequence we are examining. Applying a subjective sense of the probabilities of this occurring, leaves me with little concern that it may have occurred within a relevant period before.

The next instance of a sceptre that had the traversing planets located within a single constellation occurred on 18 May 113CE, in Pisces.

The sceptre that manifested in Leo heralded an epoch. The next time that the sceptre would be visible and thus could be described as having departed the feet of Leo, was approximately 140 years later when it manifested in Pisces.

The presence of the sceptre may have been recognised by a believing astronomer familiar with the prophetic tradition of the Jews. It may have placed him/her on high alert, and may have centred their attention upon the potential advent of Shiloh.

A believing astronomer would be on the lookout for the star promised to arise in Leo. It has already been demonstrated that this may have occurred on 12 August 3BCE. The question arises whether the Leo appulse had occurred between 13 May 26BCE and 12 August 3BCE. The answer will tell us whether the event in question would have been regarded as noteworthy. The event must have been of sufficient importance to permit the wise men to declare that they had seen “his star” rising in the east.

An analysis of the Jupiter /Venus conjunctions where Jupiter is rising following the manifestation of the sceptre delivers the following results. On 2 November 24BCE the Venus/Jupiter conjunction occurred in Libra; On 18 April 19BCE in Pisces; on 29 October 13BCE in Virgo; on 27 January 9BCE in Capricorn; on 8 May 6BCE in Aries; on finally on 12 August 3BCE in Leo.

The identified Jupiter/Venus conjunction in Leo is thus the first presentation of “his star (rising) in the east” that followed the presentation of the sceptre at the feet of Leo.

Our discovery of the Jupiter/Venus appulse and ascension in Leo must not overshadow the five prior ascensions, however.

That is on account of the fact that each of these ascensions hold import for the mission of the Messiah.

• Libra represents the Messiah’s role as Redeemer. Depicted by a pair
  of scales, the instrument anciently used to facilitate exchange, the
  Messiah is viewed as he who redeems or buys us back. Justice,
  judgment and mercy are the hallmarks of the exchange: “I will redeem
  you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments” (See Exodus 6:
  6; 13: 4) and with mercy (See Exodus 15: 13), the Lord declared; which is why the scales are often depicted as being held in the hands of blindfolded Justice.

• Pisces’ connection with God’s followers is well established: the fish
  are at right angles to each other: the one pointing in the direction
  of the ecliptic, or path to (of) the sun (and representing the
  initiate, either upon that path, or prostrate); and the other,
  pointing upward to the North Pole (representing the priest who makes
  intercession). For this reason, among others (It is also frequently
  stated that the choice of the sign of the fish is on account of the
  claim that Christ was born at the commencement of the age of Pisces),
  the sign of the fish became an established symbol in the Christian
  period. The rising conjunction in Pisces signals the Messiah as the
  spiritual head and intercessor of His people. In the Christian era he would be designated the Great High Priest of the Church (see Hebrews 4: 14).

• We have already considered what role Virgo played in the Messiah’s
  prophesied conception and birth.

• Capricorn is identified as a goat wounded in its side. To the Old
  testament student this represents a deliberate comparison to the
  Hebrew rituals and sacrifices when the goat was slain on the Day of
  Atonement, for the sins of the nation (See Leviticus 16). On Yom
  Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, two goats (as opposed
  to lambs, and often presented as the antithesis of the lamb) where
  selected and presented at the tabernacle for sacrifice. A lot was
  cast for the purpose of selecting one of the goats that would be offered for the sins of the people, while the other goat (referred to as the
  scapegoat) would be placed under burden of all of the sins and
  transgressions of the people and would be led away carrying with it
  the sins of the nation, into a place where no-one lived, there to
  wonder and die. The metaphor for Christ, pierced in his side on the
  day when the atonement was effected is striking: Christ (the Son of
  the Father) and Barabbas (Lit: son of the father) stand accused of treason,
  the highest capital crime (rendering both accused men goats in the
  eyes of the judge). Barabbas is released and goes free, like the
  scapegoat, to the simultaneous cry of the high priests “His blood be
  upon us and upon our children” (See Matthew 27: 25) while Christ is
  slain for the sins of the world.

• Aries or the Ram immediately takes our thoughts back to the ram
  caught in the thicket at the time of Abraham’s interrupted sacrifice
  of his son Isaac (see Genesis 22) the archetype of the Messianic
  sacrifice and a climax in the Abrahamic covenant: “and in thy seed
  shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” (see Genesis 22: 18).

Thus the sequence of rising Jupiter / Venus conjunctions is of immense importance in heralding the coming of the Messiah: we have signification for Messiah as the Redeemer, paying the price for reconciliation; Messiah as the great High Priest and intercessor; Messiah born of the Virgin through the condescension of God; Messiah to accomplish the atonement; Messiah, the sacrifice provided by God and in fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant; and finally, in Leo, Messiah as the promised King.

The six periods present for creation, in the last of which man was created, are repeated in the six messianically significant conjunctions that precede the creation of the perfect Man.

It is no wonder that, having patiently waited five earlier ascensions, and interpreting them for what they represented, the sixth ascension in Leo would have been greeted with great excitement.

The heraldic presence of the sceptre would have undoubtedly suggested significance for the Jupiter/Venus conjunction of 12 August 3BCE, but it is the fulfilment of a scripture in what is discussed next that would have underscored the significance of the events unfolding in the sequence we are examining.

Hope to see you again in Part 5: "The Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee".